Author: gwynethj

Hey MHMS Kids! It’s MHTV Application Time! Pick one up in the Cafeteria at lunch (see above) return it to Media (there will be a box on a chair) OR…..be super cool & fill out the GSuite Doc Application below! (HINT: Use your password from last year!) We’d love to have you join us — esp. 6th graders!

Fall at Savage is packed full of free practice tests for SAT, ACT and PSAT, as well as numerous other awesome classes and events such as as teen movies with popcorn, tie dye, college and career readiness workshops, sparkle glitter jars, financial literacy, intro to sign language, a writing workshop with published teen author Zack Smedley, canvas and cookies painting party, suicide prevention, rainbow book meet up, theater preview of HHS fall play, anime club and a new interactive 4H series featuring STEM jobs — please share with your students and teachers ❤️

Welcome Back Kiddos, Parents, & Families!

I am SO honored to have been a part of this community since the beginning. I never thought I was one of those teachers who would stay in the same school for like, forever!

But here I am, still happy, loving our quirky middle school kiddos and the vibrant and rich diversity of our amazing neighborhood! I also like that I live near our community and only have to drive 7 minutes to get here!

This year is going to be fantastic and challenging! I’m so happy that Ms. Bell, our amazing Media Assistant is with us full time! Thanks to our new FULL TIME AWESOME Superintendent, Michael J. Martirano for bringing back our much needed (and loved!) Library paraeducators a couple years ago. We really appreciate having our Library & Literacy program fully staffed – because we serve about 800 people! 730+ kiddos & 80+ teachers and staff!

I will try and share all the amazing things that happen every day here at MHMS – the cool kiddos, the fun times, the Science, the ELA, the Social Studies, MHTV, ART, STEAM, Drama, well – as much as I can!

We LOVE to share the cool things that happen every day here at MHMS! In the Library, in the hallways, everywhere!

Where does the time fly? I can’t believe it’s that time of year again! Time to share our Summer Reading List with you! It’s my 27th year in HCPSS and 22nd year here at Murray Hill Middle School! W00t! A lot of things have changed but some thing stay the same. Like still LOVING to read. Every day. Especially, in the Summer time! There’s nothing better to sit outside, on the beach, under an umbrella, or in a screened in porch and just read. For hours and hours! Where do you like to read? Any verified official Murray Hill kid who answers that in the comments will get a surprise next year! Sorry, Svetlana in Vladivostok, you are not eligible to win, but I still appreciate you reading this blog!

…..also, Pssst! Grownups! The ADULT Summer Reading List is linked at the bottom.

Thanks to our our A+ partner Librarians at the Howard County Library and two of our local HCPSS Middle School Teacher-Librarians we have created this Super Fun Reading List for all the kiddos in our district! (or the world!)

Murray Hill kids – If you read any of these books this summer, we would LOVE to hear what you thought in the comments! Follow us on Instagram to see pics of kids being AWESOME every day in our library and throughout the school!

Also, if you take a picture of yourself reading this summer or visiting a Library & tag me at @TheDaringLibrarian you’ll get a prize! Also, please tag @HoCoLibrary to maybe get some extra SWAG! 😉 But you have to find me in September and remind me, by saying like “Swag Me” because I’m getting old! LOL

From the Howard County Public Library, Our A+ Partners

Welcome to Summer Reading: A Universe of Stories

Join us for Summer Reading KICKOFF on Saturday, June 1 from 10 am to 2 pm at HCLS Miller Branch!

Activities in the Enchanted Garden include planting a sunflower and being a human sundial (weather permitting)

Indoor activities include crafts for children, and encounters with moon rocks and other rocks from space borrowed from NASA

Food trucks: Kona Ice and Say Cheese!

11 – 11:45 pm performance by The Milkshake Duo

12:30 – 1:30 pm fun with Eric Energy

ENROLL in Summer Reading Beginning June 1, 2019

Children, teens, and adults can participate! Enroll online from home or at any HCLS branch OR pick up a paper booklet at any branch.

After you’ve enrolled online or picked up your Summer Reading booklet, log the books you read and mark off activities as you complete them.

For every book/activity you complete, you receive an entry into a branch and systemwide prize drawing for your age group.

FOR ONLINE PARTICIPANTS: HCLS has a new online summer reading portal called BookPoints! Beginning June 1, 2019 you can register for a free summer reading account and create your BookPoints Username and password. Earn up to 41 entries into end-of-summer prize drawings by participating online!

FOR PAPER ONLY PARTICIPANTS: Between July 1 and August 31, return your completed booklet to any library branch to receive one entry into the end-of-summer prize drawings for each book or activity you complete. Check off a minimum of 20 books and/or activities to officially complete Summer Reading 2019: A Universe of Stories!

Makerspace for Little or NothingYoudon’t have to spend thousands of dollars to start a Makerspace area.You don’t have to have a designated room or rip out bookcases.

You don’t have to make a Lego wall or buy a 3-D printer!

You can even have a Makerspace on a cart!

When we have testing in our Library, I put all our Makerspace stuff on an AV cart and roll it into our server
room. This post evolved from a previous post called Makerspace Starter Kit Updated on my professional blog where I had some of these idea, but I felt that it deserved it’s own expanded post.

You can take baby steps into the Maker Movement. I’ve been saying that for 7 years or so….long before I blogged about it, I tried it out.

A Makerspace is what you make of it!
Big or small, lavish or little, it’s all about the maker mindset. Constructivism. Be creative! Be crafty! Ask your kids what they want and brainstorm how to bring it to the school! Ask for donations. Ask for help. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect at first or if you fail. Just give it a shot.

Make sure to Tweet, IG out, or add the request to your staff & community newsletter! But be careful, you could get an AVALANCHE of materials!

Then cut them into different lengths, have the kiddos paint them with water based paints and notch them with scissors — then let kids build with them! Store them in milk crates or bins. Voila!

I’ve heard lately, that some people don’t like this idea because they’re concerned about germs. I guess TP rolls & airborne germs? I’m kind of a germophobe, and I didn’t even think about that! Sheesh. How about lightly spraying all the cardboard rolls with Lysol? OR..how about using paper towel rolls cut into different lengths? More! Cardboard Tube STEM Activities and more! This is a Mommy blog that has lots of great STEM ideas! W00t!

Origami is the perfect addition to a Maker program. Gather some origami books (I have like at least 10) paper of all kinds, safety scissors, rulers, and a recycling bin or the scraps and Voila! Kids love folding paper and even though I’m not patient enough to do this myself, many of my kiddos are amazing at Origami!

Cardboard Creature ChallengeNow, shamelessly stolen from my Makerspace Gur, Diana Rendina – Teasing Excerpts from the amazing article she wrote for Demco titled 3 Design Challenges for the Low-tech Makerspace (Link below – I promise! Just don’t want to lose you quite yet, you may never come back!;-)

“The Cardboard Challenge has long been one of my favorite makerspace activities. Inspired by the amazing short film Caine’s Arcade and the Imagination Foundation’s Global Cardboard Challenge (October 6th – Join in!), I create a new variation on this challenge every year. We’ve created cardboard arcades, robots, buildings, etc.” — Read the article for more!

Graphic by @DianaLRendina

Tech Take-Apart Robot ChallengeTech take-apart is a classic makerspace activity. This design challenge
takes it a step further by recycling the technology into a robot made by
students. This project doesn’t have to be super complex — picture a
shoebox painted with black paint that has keyboard keys and circuit
boards glued to it.(link below – I promise!)

Graphic by @DianaLRendina

Recycled Book Art Gallery Our Art Teacher does this and we always love to provide gallery and brainstorming space! Maybe she gets some of our weeded books OR maybe she uses donated books from the kids and

MHMS Upcycled Book Art Gallery Walk from my IG

the community. I can’t speak to that here… my supervisor might see this!

Here’s what Diana has to say about this!

“We all have damaged or out-of-date books that we’ve weeded from our library. Instead of tossing them out, why not transform them into recycled art? Browse Pinterest or check out some of the recommended resources below to gather inspiration for students. Provide students with a variety of arts and crafts supplies, including glue, tape, paint, scissors, glitter, etc. Teach the students about what an artist’s statement is, and have them write one up once their project is done. Then create a gallery of all the students’ projects in the library and invite classes to visit for a gallery walk. This is a great way to introduce students to the world of professional art and a fantastic way to recognize their work. Design prompt: Working alone or in pairs, transform a used book into a work of art. You can use any arts and crafts materials, including paint, scissors, glue, tape, etc. Write an artist’s statement explaining how you came up with your idea and how you created your art. You will have one week to complete the project. All of the book art will be displayed with artists’ statements in a gallery in the library. ”

Don’t forget that video production, animation, green screen, blue screen, TV studio, coding, programming, any collaborating with a Science class can make your school Makerspace program shine! Make sure to bring in other subject areas. Don’t just have a Maker program in the Library, have the Maker mindset all over the school. Work with your Tech Ed teacher, FACS (what was once called Home Economics) and Art teacher. Make your Library a great space to display artwork. I’m a big advocate of STEAM rather than STEM. Think about gallery openings and gallery walks. This gets more people into your space.

Consider creating short videos on Instagram or YouTube having kids talk about their artwork & create a QR code to that post that you print out and put next to the artwork. That way, when people see the display, they can scan and see the video.

Do NOT let the expense, mess, trouble, or obstacles stop you from doing this! Be the innovator and the spark in your school or district. You got this! I know you can be AWESOME!

Honestly,
this last part was in a previous blog called Makersapce Starter Kit Updated but in case you missed it, I think this part is an important part of the conversation for any Maker project.

So, my last post was about an easy interactive reading promotion idea using Post-It Notes I got from my fabulous friend (and one time mentee) Tiffany Whitehead. Didn’t read it yet? Just landed here? That’s OK, I invite you to go back and read it before going much further… it’s OK, I’ll wait. And for full transparency, I thought that it only fair that my kiddos, my students, know how I feel about this — so I’m posting this here as well as on my professional blog.(watches Ancient Aliens loves that memetastic Giorgio A. Tsoukalosbut can’t stand the annoying voice of that David Childress)

This post was inspired by an anonymous blog comment on my professional blog. I’ll post it below. Oh wait! Eep…sorry

You also probably should skim this Reading Promotion post on my professional blog, too! It’s cool, I’ll go check Twitter while you do and Tweet back to my favorite band of all time XTC & Andy Partridge.

‘Cause that’s where the anonymous or unknown comment was left. My below rant will make more sense if you get the context. OH! I know, I’ll screenshot it. Wait here for a sec. BRB.

Here’s my reply… I think I went a little overboard. That happens.

Hello Unknown~ You know, it shows how much I’m so excited for a REAL comment (rather than the usual SPAM for classes in Mumbai, Mozambique, or Mobile that I get from spammers and bots) that I’ll answer even an anonymous comment! Because, you know, how do I know it’s “real” because if they cared that much for the answer, why can’t they even leave a name, right? Some great comments or questions I’ve even emailed to answer in more detail or called on the phone. Ok……enough of that. Sorry if that sounded snarky.

How do I know the kid actually read the book?….Here’s how I know. They returned the book! If a kid really wanted SCAM me to get whatever kind of faux brass key, stuffed animal, sticker or prize…then have at it.

And when I did the Passport thing with the stamps, there really wasn’t really a prize, just the the satisfaction of having every square stamped. I can’t even remember if I gave it back to the kiddo or displayed it up on the board. But knowing how bad I am about changing my one bulletin board in the library, I’m pretty sure I just gave it to the kid with a big high five and a whooping “Great job sweetie, well done!”

Because, what’s really the reason we’re doing this?To get the kid in the door. OR to get the kid to read more. OR to encourage the kid to read a different or varied type or genre of book. Basically, just to get the kid to read.

At least they’re visiting the library. Because, really…isn’t that what we want? Occasionally, I’ll flip open the book an pick out a character’s name or event in the book and ask a random question, but really — I don’t care. (OK, I’m kind of fibbing here, I think I’ve done that like once or twice in my 20+ years)

But yeah, go ahead and SCAM me kids! Come and get my prizes, just come to the library & check out a book. It’s all good. For every prize I’m scammed out of, I’m sure there are dozens of kiddos avidly reading the books. Because that was me. I was that kid. I was the kid that came to get a book every morning and every afternoon. I was the kid that had the reading during class and hiding the book inside the desk trick down pat. I was RARELY caught. Ok, I was caught a couple times but I always did it. (Kids, don’t do this in class! lol)

Then, I transferred to Phillis E. Williams Elementary School, a 1970’s OPEN CLASSROOM style school and for a kid like me, I thrived. I hurried up, hustled to every classroom in the pod and did all my work as fast and as well as I could, so I could get that free time tocurl up in the School Library or classroom corner and just READ.

This is when I switched to public schools and got identified as a TAG or GT kid, one of the BEST things was that I didn’t have to do as much boring stoopid stuff that I already knew how to do, by rote, and was able to “test out” and then craft my own learning plan.That’s why I’m such a big fan of PBL and UDL as a Teacher Librarian. OK, enough about me – sounds kind of braggy. GAH. Sorry.

WOW…this turned out to be sort of a long rant. I hope it comes across ok, because I guess I’m sort of passionate about this topic.

When it comes to reading promotion, I want to do fun things to encourage kids to read that doesn’t cost a lot of money, doesn’t take a lot of time to manage or organize. (Yeah, I’m kind of lazy that way) I like a reading promotion that has that special something — that fun kind spark of engagement that will encourage the kiddos to give it a whirl.

What do you do to promote reading? What features do you find that makes a great and easy to do reading promotion? And what’s your name, hon? 😉 Either way, hope that helped!

Cheers!
~Gwyneth

About this picture. And I don’t usually share personal info …this is awkward for me. Stop reading if you want.

A long long time ago in a far away place, OK…it was the late 70’s in the DC Metro area….You can tell it was the 70’s from the orange shag rug carpeting and my shag haircut. Anyway, that year there was a big blizzard that kept us out of school for days and days. I finished reading ALL my Library Books and it was COLD! So, I planted myself on top of the heating grate in our Living Room …..and read my falling apart Gothic Novel called The Laird of Tariff Hall. Mom, I guess, thought it was funny so she took this picture. Notice the Redskins Tube Socks I stole from my brother! Hee hee. Please take note of the crochet afghan that my Gramma made me. I still have the book. Wish I had the afghan.

The director knew me because I was a kid extra in one of the plays he
directed at my Bowie High School where my Mom was an English Teacher. Why pay for after school childcare
when you have a hammy but biddable kid who is more than happy to be an extra in
every school play? By the time I got to high school I had been in like
10 plays already. Says a lot about my early Gleek years.

Unthinkable Scragg comes to mind. I may not have even had a name, just a grubby little extra. It was a blast.

Anyway, Kyle lives in Annapolis now. Yeah, I just stalked him real quick on Google. Probably a good thing I’m not on Facebook.

The next year I went to High School and discovered the band XTC and today, on Twitter, as I was writing this blog post, my musical hero of 39 years MADE MY DAY. See?

OK, enough rambling and reminiscing on and on. Don’t know why I felt like sharing that. I think I’m pretty good about not nattering on about myself in my blog posts. Or at least I hope so! Or at least not during the main content area. Eep! How tiresome! Night friends!

Please leve a Comment if you like and include your name if you’d like me to connect with you!

Come on in and recommend!OR….

It’s kinda like a low-tech YELP review for books!

Hey MHMS Kids, Check this Out!

This is a cool reading promotion that’s all about you! Come on into the Library Media Center and find a book you’ve read and liked. Even better, find a book you LOVED! Like you could even maybe read it again kind of love. Go to the display pictured….

How To: Grab a sticky note and write on the clipboard your book recommendation. You can sign your first name & your grade or just something like “an 8th grader”….I just want to make sure that the other kids reading YOUR note know that it was written by a fellow teen. Leave that book on the shelf, if there’s not enough room, just prop it up or find me or Ms. Bell to help you and feel the warm happy feeling you helped another kid read find a great book!

Don’t know what to write? Here are some suggestions:

I loved this book because…

This is a great read if you liked _______________(list a similar book)

This is reading promotion idea that’s inexpensive, low-tech, includes student voice, and I totally nabbed it from the amazing Librarian Tiff five years ago and I still love it! It’s kind of what you can call an oldie but a goodie. This can work at any time in a School Library or ELA Classroom.

I was inspired by Librarian tiff because she also does this in her School Library and created this amazing graphic below, made it Creative Commons, and gave it out to the world! I love beautiful signage that I don’t have to make myself! Because I’m kinda (occasionally) lazy.

I bought some colorful mini clipboards from Amazon & lined sticky notes. I already had the mini galvanized buckets of golf pencils – stole those from my PAC computer bank. This way kids don’t write ON THE books. Don’t judge me for being a little OCD and not wanting the pencil impressions on the front of a Library book!

Student Voice:

The kiddo can write anything. “I loved this book because…” and sign it their fist name or just “an 8th grader” etc. My kids love seeing what other kids have read. Same idea, but in a low tech way, as my #BookDropLife & Instagram posts.

This way kids can recommend books to other kids and be heard. Simple. Easy. Effective. I think it’s really important to allow kids to feel like they have a voice in the Library Media Center and in our school. Participatory Librarianship.

Save the Stickies!

At the end of the year, when I put this display away, I always take the sticky note off the front of the book and paste it inside the front cover. So the next kid can open the cover, read the book blurb, AND the student recommendation.

Re-posting this! I just want to share a few coloring pages I curated online & made into PDF’s & JPEGS for our kiddos! I love adding new coloring pages to our Makerspace, especially during special months and with themes. There are a LOT of FREE coloring pages out there for a school Makerspace, you just know how to find them, adapt them, & follow the copyright licensing!

Coloring Pages for Women’s History Month

I uploaded the curated coloring sheets as Jpegs on Flickr embedded below and to download as Printable PDF’s on Slideshare.

Enchantress of Numbers! Augusta Ada King-Noel, Countess of Lovelace was an English mathematician and writer, chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage’s proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine

Short Story: A wonderful 6th grade student & I teamed up and made this bookmark sheet and I want to share it with you.

I made copies and gave several to the creative young kid. Then, a few days later, one of my marvelous teachers Mrs. Granger, had her kids, including the boy who helped create the Ninja Unicorn, color it and we’re going to laminate it. I took a picture and was just amazed. My not so adroit drawings and rather amateurish lettering were brought to life and made to look better by the amazing coloring of the kiddos.

Why not ask some of your kids to come up with their own coloring bookmarks? If you do, please share them with me and I will share them with my kids. Maybe we could trade them!?

JG – the creator of the NINJA Unicorn, is the cute kid in the middle! The other two gents are some of my 6h grade regular LEGO & UNO players during recess!

Longer Story: This coloring sheet came about by mistake. It came about because I’m kind of a doofus.

We were madly getting
ready for MAP testing deadlines (going through each and every laptop) and
also worrying over so many snow related school delays, that I forgot to sign up for a pot-luck breakfast for our district
Library Media Professional Development day.

OK, that’s a kind of a big statement. You may have heard of this, but I found this out right before Christmas and started this blog then…but, you know. Holidays. So….just in case you haven’t heard about this, here it is.

The Space Bar Cursor Trick on the iPhone / iPad in iOS 12 is a great time saver for every iPhone or Apple user.

You can press and hold (long press) the space bar on an iPhone / iPad to control the cursor as mouse pointer. You can easily move over to the exact spot where you want to edit the text.

How did I go years and years without knowing this iPhone keyboard trick? (I’m so tired the overused word of hack) Apparently, it’s not exactly new but little known. If you’ve ever felt the frustration of trying to move the cursor exactly where you want it when correcting (my increasingly less accurate -what’s with that, too?) voice to text results tapping here and tapping there, when texting or writing an email on your iPhone, this little tip will make your day.

I am an Apple Geek. How could they keep this from me?!

I love my Apple products. I’ve been an Apple fanatic since I created an Apple-Talk network of Apple IIe’s & Apple G3’s the first year I started teaching in 1992! Also, my first Ed Tech conference presentation was about integrating my new CD Rom & this thing called the Internet to a group research product centered around Where in the USA is Carmen Sandiego! Sheesh.

(March 1996) Where in the USA is Carmen Sandiego: A Fun Multimedia
Research Unit for Grades 4-8. Featuring the Apple IIgs, GeoSafari, USA
Atlas CD-ROM & the Internet.

MICCA – Maryland Instructional Computer Coordinators Association,

Baltimore, MD

Anyway, just had to share that with you friends. Hope it will help you out as much as it has for me! Did you already know about it? Do you have another great iOS tech tip to share? Hit me up in the comments, follow me on Twitter, & reach out! Thank you!